In 2017, multiple state legislatures have taken action reflecting their recognition of the potential impact of virtual currency and blockchain technology. These actions have ranged from requests for further information regarding the technology to an active debate regarding a specific use case.

While ENS cyber-squatting is most likely actionable under the same laws that protect domain names in DNS registration, ENS’s decentralized nature and Ethereum wallet addresses’ pseudonymity will inhibit the legal system’s effectiveness and possibly hinder the tech’s mainstream adoption.

A federal judge has ruled in favor of an anonymous customer of the bitcoin exchange Coinbase against the Internal Revenue Service, permitting the unnamed bitcoiner to challenge the agency’s summons an...